Frankie Sylvester and his three friends had spent their freshman year at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs under strict supervision and following seemingly endless arcane rules of the military. Even moving between classes on the campus is regulated by rules that force freshmen to jog on narrow marble strips that crisscross the Terrazzo, the plaza at the heart of the Academy. By May of 2022, with finals fast approaching, the cadets dreamed of the moment that they would no longer be referred to as âdooliesâ (Greek for servant) and enter their sophomore year, and perhaps have a brief moment of freedom before returning to their studies.
After finals are completed, the freshmen are allowed freedom for 96 hours as long as they remain within 150 miles of the Air Force Academy, and Sylvester and members of his squadron had planned a hike deep into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to set up a basecamp at Lake of the Clouds. The locaÂtion seemed perfect and was only 73.5 miles as an F-22 flies from the Air Force Academy Campus.
But the Sangre de Cristo Mountains are treacherous at any time of year, and May is still considered winter for the high altitudes. In 2022, a warm late April and early May had melted much of the snowpack by the time the four men headed for the mountains and their four days of freedom. They headed up the hill on Friday, May 13. As the men reached higher elevations, they encountered the deep snow drifts, slowing their progress. Heading off-trail to walk along the snow-free sides above the timberline, the group had no idea how unstable the rocky ground beneath their feet had become as the freeze-thaw cycle loosened boulders that, to the eye, seemed forever cemented into the rocky cliff faces.
The four cadets had been fully loaded for days in the mountains, each with a backpack full of clothes, tents, and food. As they conÂtinued to climb Spread Eagle Peak, trying to reach the lakes, rising above the timberline, the altitude caused their hands to swell, and their balance and vision to become slightly impaired, as even well-trained cardiovascular systems like theirs entered what is called carÂdiac drift. Backpacking in the mountains is an endurance sport that catches most people off guard. And Science is still learning how the body responds to different types of exercise, and most people do not have bodies that are well-adapted to long periods of exercise.
At some point, Sylvester moved closer to the cliff edge than the other three. He wanted to take in the beauty or perhaps to get a better sense of the route they needed to take to reach the summit. In an instant, Sylvester disappeared over the edge, plungÂing 200 feet down the cliff face. His friends rushed to see where he had landed, and they noticed that he had briefly stood up before collapsing in a heap among the rocks.
Lacking ropes and equipment, the remaining group was unable to reach SylÂvester, and they called emergency services for help. Custer County Search and Rescue quickly assembled a team with REACH Air Medical to insert rescuers close to SylvesÂter. The first bit of good luck was that the crew in the helicopter were able to spot the three cadets above the cliff at around 13,000 feet above sea level on the first pass in the helicopter, an infrequent occurrence. After locating where Sylvester had fallen, the airÂcraft completed a hot unload (landing but leaving the rotors spinning) about a quarter mile away. Search and Rescue Captain JonÂathan Wiley was the first to work his way to Sylvester but was unsure if he was still alive. About 40 yards away, Wiley saw Sylvester move and posture. Three members of Search and Rescue, Steve Nutting, Gage Rothrock, and Wiley, started to try and stabilize the crumpled body. Realizing the situation was severe, Captain Wiley radioed the REACH helicopter and requested medical assistance from the crew, which included a nurse and a paramedic. This rare request was immediÂately granted, and the five rescuers worked to save the young cadet.
Custer County Search and Rescue inciÂdent commander Alan Carter immediately recognized that the location and extent of the fall would require specialized air support to evacuate Sylvester from the side of the mounÂtain, and he phoned John Reller, the on-call state Search and Rescue Coordinator. âCuster has a really big incident going on, going to need additional air support,â Carter stated. Reller immediately began working with a hoist rescue team, which included technicians from the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group and the Vail Mountain Rescue Group, to hoist Sylvester out. Colorado Search and Rescue state coordinators typically coordinate hoist rescues from the Colorado National Guard and are only requested successfully when a subjectâs life, limb, or eyesight is at stake.
Against all the odds, Sylvester survived. In an interview with Fox 17 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a year later, Sylvester recounted how he had taken his turn carrying the ruckÂsack that held the tent and 11 cans of CampÂbellâs soup. âThe pack and the food really helped protect my spine and my neck during the fall.â However, the damage from the fall was extreme. Three separate times, he went into cardiac arrest, and it took 25 minutes of chest compression to keep him alive. He sufÂfered from a brain bleed and broken femur, the latter of which ultimately was so severe that they had to amputate the leg.
Sylvester does not remember anything; his first memory is of the group leaving Colorado Springs before the hike. The next thing he remembers is six weeks later, as he was being transported in a U.S. Air Force Twin Otter DHC-6 medical transport plane to the MinÂneapolis Veterans Affairs Hospital. âI underÂstand that life is different, and I loved the path that I had been on. I loved the idea of being a fighter pilot. I think my path now can still be just as incredible, or even more incredible,â he explained to Fox 17 in April of 2023.
Sylvester lived true to his promise and, after years of rehabilitation and learning how to walk, hike, and run on a prosthetic leg, he returned to the Wet Mountain Valley on May 30 of this year to join with his family and memÂbers of the Custer County Search and Rescue Team to finally complete the 10-mile trek. Search and Rescue Captain Jonathan Wiley was one of the members who both helped staÂbilize Sylvester on that fateful day and then completed the 10-mile hike with him in May three years later. Wiley stated, âFrankieâs story has become a rallying point for Custer County Search and Rescue, a reminder of what is posÂsible when we work tirelessly as a team to help those in need and to never give up.â
For more information on the work that Custer County Search and Rescue does, visit www.custersar.org and consider making a donation to them for their amazing and life-saving work.
â Jordan Hedberg
